Hopple.



PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

E. L. GILBERT.

HOPPLE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28,

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

luveu toz Edward I. GY/fiarf l E T wit" gooeo' No. 895,627. PATENTED AUG. 11, 190'8.

' E. L. GILBERT.

HOPPLE APPLICATION FILED APR. as, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

q vihwowo EDWARD LESLIE GILBERT, OF WALNUT SPRINGS, TEXAS.

HOPPLE To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Walnut Springs, in the county of Bosque, State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Hopples; and I do hereby dec are the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention has reference to in1- provements in hopples, and it resides, generally, in the provision of-an exceedingly simple, inex ensive, and efiicient device of that nature w ich may be readily attached to any cultivator of ordinary type for regulating the distance between the beams which carry the ground-treating implements, while the cultivator is in operation.

More especially, the invention resides in the particular devices employed for connecting the operating lever with the crossed arms which form the main members of the hopple, and in the particular manner in which said arms and lever are connected with the rack carrying member, the rack portion of which is engaged by a spring-pressed dog carried by said lever.

The preferred embodiment of the invenvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals throughout the several views.

Of the said drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a e'u'ltivator having the improved hopple attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail side elevation of the hopple in its closed position. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a similar view of the hopple in its open osition. Fig. 5 is a vertical section throug Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of the rack-carrying member. Fig. 7 is a collective view of the parts of the bracket attached to the rack-member.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the arched axle, and 2 the horizontal supports for the beams 3 of a cultivator of any ordinary type, said beams having secured to their curved lower ends the round-treating implements 4. To these earns are attached the lower ends of a pair of arms 5 and 6 which cross each other in a seat 7 formed in the forward end of a bar 8 disposed longitudinally of the cultivator,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 28, 1908.

Patented Aug. 11, 1908.

Serial No. 429,639.

said bar including an angular rear portion 9 whose upper arm terminates in an arcuate rack 10 formed integral therewith. The arms 5 and 6 are connected with the member 8 by means of a pivot pin 11 which passes through alining perforations formed in the front and rear walls of the seat 7, and through said arms at their point of intersection, the above-mentioned walls of the seat, as well as its bottom wall, being widened or enlarged transversely of the bar as shown in Fig. 6. To the apex of the angular portion of said bar is pivoted an angular lever 12, the longer or handle arm of which extends rearwardly to a point within reach of the occupant of the seat 13, and is provided with a spring-pressed dog 1 1 arranged for engage ment with the teeth of the rack 10. The free end of the shorter arm of said lever is pivotally connected with the lower end of a vertical arm 15, which latter is provided at its ends with L-shaped straps 16 disposed upon opposite sides thereof, the vertical por tion of each strap being arranged parallel with and in spaced relation to said arm. In attaching the last-mentioned arm of the lever to the arm 15, which latter, together with the straps 16, forms a bracket, the free end of said lever arm is disposed between the lower end of the arm 15 and the lower strap 16.

The upper end of the arm 15 has connected thereto, a block 17 whose depending stem 18 fits in the space between the upper end of said arm and the upper strap and is held against displacement by a pivot pin. The ends of the body portion of the block are perforated, as shown in Fig. 7, and in said perforations, are fitted from opposite sides the lower ends of a pair of downwardlyextending converging rods 19 whose laterallybent upper ends are fitted in perforations formed in the upper ends of the crossed arms 5 and 6.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that when the operating lever 12 is rocked in either direction upon its pivot, an endwise vertical movement will be imparted to the bracket formed by the arm 15 and its straps 16. Owing to the attachment of the block 17 to the upper end of the bracket, and to the rod connections between said block and the upper ends of the crossed arms, the latter will open and close scissors-fashion, upon the movement of the operating lever, thus drawing the cultivator beams 3 towards or from each other, according to the direction in which said lever is rocked. In this way, the adjustment of the beams may be effected quickly, and while the machine is in opera tion, the attachment of the lower ends of the crossed arms to said beams in no way interfering with the movements of the latter.

In order to maintain the attachment as a whole in a vertical position, and, at the same time, to permit it to rock with the movement of the cultivator, the pin 11, which connects the arms 5 and 6 to the bar 8 has its forward end formed with an eye to which is loosely pivoted the upper end of a link 20, the lower end of which is pivoted in a similar manner to the tongue of the cultivator.

WVhat is claimed is:

1. An attachment for cultivators comprising in combination, a member disposed longitudinally of the cultivator and provided at its rear end with a rack; a pair of crossed arms pivoted to said member at their point of intersection; a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to said member and provided with a spring-pressed dog arranged for engagement with said rack; a pair of downwardly-extending converging rods pivoted to the up per ends of said arms; a vertical arm having its lower end pivotally connected to the front end of said lever and a member secured to the upper end of said arm and having the lower ends of said rods secured thereto.

2. An attachment for cultivators comprising in combination, a member disposed longitudinally of the cultivator and provided at its rear end with a rack; a pair of crossed arms pivoted at their point of intersection to the front end of said member; an angular 1e-' ver pivoted at its apex to said member, and provided with a spring-pressed dog arranged for engagement with said rack; a vertical arm provided at its opposite ends with a pair of L-shaped members having the vertical portions thereof arranged in spaced relation to and parallel with said arm, said lever having its front end fitted between the lower end of said arm and the lower L-shaped member; a block fitted between the upper end of said arm and the upper L-shaped member; and a pair of downwardly-extending converging rods pivoted at their upper ends to the upper ends of the crossed arms, and at their lower ends to said block.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD LESLIE GILBERT.

I/Vitnesses:

J. W. TIPTON, W. T. DE ARMAN. 

